When I Can Call You My Own
by The All Powerful Pigeon
Summary: 5 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, a broken hearted woman walks into the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with a close friend. Will the night end in tears or laughter? 2 OCs. This summary sucks (they're hard to think up!)


HEY GUYS! This is a cute little story I wrote for two of my Harry Potter OCs (Vanessa Black and Dylan Hall). This takes place exactly 5 years after The Battle of Hogwarts. If you haven't read my Battle of Hogwarts story this might not make sense but you can read it anyways, I would never stop you :) I really love how I wrote this and I want to hear what you guys think because YOUR OPINION MATTERS! What did you like/dislike? PLEASE DON'T BREAK MY HEART AND CRUSH MY SOUL! I think that's all I have to say, so, as always, ONWARDS!

Vanessa Regulus Black walked briskly through Diagon Alley. The cold winter wind blew her long, unruly black hair away from her pale face to reveal two sad blue eyes that peered out from behind a beat-up set of thick black-framed glasses. Her black coat was wrapped tightly around, held in place by her crossed arms as she attempted to ward off the icy breeze. Her wand was tucked into her sleeve should the need to use it arise. She doubted such an opportunity would present itself.

She listened to the sound her feet made as she walked to the Leaky Cauldron. It was the only sound that could be heard as it echoed through the silent night.

Stopping in front of the Wizarding world's most well-known places, she sighed. She took a quick look around before opening the door and heading inside.

The place was bright, warm, and noisy, the exact opposite of the world outside. The sound of laughter and dozens of conversations mingled together and reverberated throughout the building.

Scanning the room, Vanessa quickly spotted the sandy-blonde hair of Dylan Hall at a small table in a corner. She allowed herself a brief smile before picking her way through the crowd and sitting down across from the 24-year-old wizard.

Dylan looked up, his hazel eyes twinkling at her.

"You made it," he said with a smile. "I didn't think you would."

"Do I ever not come?" she asked.

Dylan shrugged. "There's always the possibility. And I wasn't sure you'd come, tonight especially."

Vanessa looked down and stared at the table as she thought back to that one night, five years ago, when her world had been torn to shreds. She blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she remembered watching both Fred and Siren-her closest friends-lose their lives because of her own foolishness. So many good lives were lost that night. The memories Vanessa still had of the Battle of Hogwarts would be chained to her for the rest of her life. They would continue to haunt both her waking and sleeping moments-well, the few sleeping moments she could get.

"'Nessa?" Dylan's gentle, concerned voice brought her out of her thoughts. "You okay, luv?"

She quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that it's still so fresh in my mind. Sometimes it feels as if it were yesterday."

Dylan said nothing, for he knew better than to talk about that night.

At that moment, Arthur Kirkland, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, walked up to the pair and placed two Butterbeers on the table.

"There you go, Dylan," Arthur said.

"Thank you, Mr. Kirkland," Dylan replied, reaching into his pocket for money.

Arthur held up his hand. "Don't worry about it. Butterbeers are on the house tonight."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't mention it." Arthur smiled and walked away.

Dylan slid one of the glasses in front of Vanessa.

"Well, that's pretty generous." He said.

She nodded numbly.

"Hey," he reached over and took her slender hand in his own.

She looked up at him, blue eyes glistening with tears.

"It's okay."

"I know," she said quietly. "It's just that even though it's been five years, I still can't get over it. I'm still holding onto all the pain and sadness while everyone else is moving on with their lives. No matter how hard I try to leave it behind, I just can't."

Dylan frowned. "I don't think that anyone can get over what transpired that night," he said slowly. "A lot of innocent lives were lost, so much was destroyed, and, five years later, we still haven't recovered from the events of that night."

They sat in silence for a minute, listening to the noise around them and occasionally taking a sip of their drinks.

After a while, Dylan stood, offering Vanessa his hand. "Come on, 'Nessa, let's get out of here. This place is too loud."

"And go where?" she asked, accepting the offered hand.

He shrugged. "We could walk around for a little bit," he suggested.

"I guess," Vanessa said, following her friend outside.

...Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff…

The couple walked down the street in silence. Pretty much every shop was closed. A bright light shone from the flat above Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

"Looks like George is awake," Dylan observed. "But I take it that you probably want to avoid it as much as possible."

Vanessa nodded, glad that she was with Dylan.

"What if they hadn't died?" he asked after a few more minutes.

"Huh?" Vanessa gave him a curious glance.

"What if they, you know, Fred and Siren, were still alive? How would life be different?"

"Well, for starters, I might be able to sleep like a normal person." Vanessa blurted out.

Dylan smiled.

"And…" she trailed off, lost in the thought of what could have been.

Her hand instinctively reached for the silver chain she wore around her neck. On it hung the last gift she had ever received from Fred Weasley-the gift that had given her hope. The small silver and gold ring embedded with a ruby and an emerald felt cold as ice as she grasped it in her hand. The small object had once promised her a future-now the only thing it gave her was pain.

"Everything would be different," she whispered. "But nothing ends how you want it to. Rarely anyone gets their happy ending. Why should I expect that I'll be one of the select few that gets that ending?"

She was talking more to herself that to Dylan at that moment. However, her words still had an effect. He stopped walking and stared at her.

"Who ever said that you don't get a happy ending?" he demanded.

Vanessa stopped walking as well and stared at him with a look of confusion and bewilderment.

"What?"

Dylan's face turned a bright shade of red. "U-um…" he stammered, looking down at his feet as he fidgeted nervously.

Vanessa crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting. "Well?"

Dylan took a deep breath, looked up at the stars, then met her eyes.

"I understand," he began, "that you've been through absolute hell over and over again. I may not know how it feels to lose your dad, your boyfriend, and your best friend, but I do know what it's like to lose someone you love." Dylan hesitated briefly. "When my little brother died, I thought my world would die with him. I didn't think I would ever be able to recover-I still haven't recovered. But I found something to live for. At first, I thought it was school, but eventually I realized that it wasn't school, it was what was at school. _Who_ was at school. I realized that that there was someone that I knew I had to live for-someone that I couldn't just leave behind."

Vanessa felt her heart begin to race. "Dylan…?"

Before she could say another word, Dylan Hall got down on one knee, pulled a ring out of his jacket pocket, and said, "That person is you, 'Nessa. I know that this is probably the stupidest thing you're ever going to hear me say, but you need to know that I can't go one more day without being able to call you my own. I love you more than anyone could ever imagine. Vanessa Black, will you marry me?"

Vanessa felt a long-buried emotion swell up inside of her as tears filled her eyes and she stared at the man in front of her.

"Yes." She choked out as the tears escaped from her eyes and danced their way down her cheeks.

Dylan grinned like a loon as he slipped the ring on her finger. He gently kissed the top of her hand before standing to his feet and pulling her into his arms. Vanessa laughed softly as he held her close.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Kiss her!" A voice yelled from above them.

The couple looked up to see George Weasley sticking his head out of a window.

"Shut it, Weasley!" Vanessa shouted back, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing.

Dylan smiled as he gave the woman he loved a kiss.

Thank you for reading! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE IT! I might do a sequel for this but, y'all know me. Just let me know if I should. If enough people want it, I WILL! WITH LOVE, Maria!


End file.
